In recent months, attention has been turned back to the 1988 Marquette Student Government election. In that year, then Marquette junior and current Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker lost in a landslide election after illegally campaigning door-to-door and slinging mud at his opponent.

This year’s candidates kept it clean, however, and outlined what they would like to see changed at Marquette next year.

For the 2011-’12 school year, the coveted position of MUSG president will come down to candidates Joey Ciccone and John Heflin, with their respective vice presidential running mates Trent Carlson and Kirsten de Guzman.

MUSG’s next president and vice president and all academic senators will be elected March 23, in an online vote for students. In last year’s spring election, a total of 1,795 students voted, representing 24.8 percent of eligible voters.

Each ticket boasts impressive resumes when it comes to holding leadership positions in organizations across campus. However, both Ciccone and Carlson currently sit on the MUSG executive board.

Ciccone, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, is MUSG’s executive vice president and chair of the Student Organization Allocation Committee.

Carlson, a junior in the College of Business Administration, is the legislative vice president for MUSG and a Schroeder Hall resident assistant this year.

Looking at the other executive candidates, Heflin and de Guzman each have held their own within MUSG.

Heflin, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, is an academic senator for MUSG and the Academics Committee chair. De Guzman, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, holds multiple administrative positions in her sorority Alpha Chi Omega. She has also served as a McCormick Hall RA and a member of the Student Conduct Board.

Ciccone said areas he and Carlson would focus on next year include a continued effort toward a new recreational and wellness facility, improving academic advising on campus — especially in areas such as internships, study abroad, co-opportunities — and increasing MUSG’s outreach to student organizations.

Carlson pointed out several successful initiatives MUSG’s executive board has started this year and will look to continue next year. These initiatives include conversations with administrators about taking all voices of the student body into account, including those that have felt they are not included in our campus community, such as LGBT groups.

Heflin said MUSG has done a great job this year, but would like to see some changes in MUSG’s administration.

“I believe the MUSG worked well as a cohesive body this past year,” Heflin said. “In regards to next year, both Kirsten and I see the need for a fresh voice to address future concerns.”

Heflin said he would like to see MUSG work closer with the student body to make sure everyone is utilizing the resources available through the group.

De Guzman supported this idea, and said MUSG must work to knock down the  “barrier” that has formed between the students and MUSG.

“In my experience as an RA,” she said, “I have even encountered students who did not know we had a student government. (We need to) become more of a presence than a myth on campus.”